Speedboats helped shift MacArthur
Carried him and party to spot where planes picked them up
Bold move secret
Copyrighted dispatch tells of dramatic trip from Bataan
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Speedboats helped shift MacArthur
2 more ships torpedoed
Washington, March 19 {AP) –
The Navy announced today that a Yugoslavian freighter, the Trepča, had been torpedoed off the Atlantic coast and that a large Norwegian merchant vessel, otherwise unidentified, had been torpedoed off the southeast United States coast.
U.S. sub crew cited for heroic exploit
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, March 19 (UP) –
Army and naval officials, revealing that an American submarine had performed “an unusual hazardous mission” in enemy-controlled waters, awarded silver stars to 69 officers and crewmen and the Distinguished Service Cross to 39-year-old Lt. Cdr. Frank W. Fenno, of Williamsport, Pa., the skipper.
The decorations were presented in ceremonies aboard the submarine with Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, commander of the Pacific Fleet, declaring the exploit:
….evidence of the fine cooperation, which exists between armed services in this area.
The nature of the mission was not disclosed, but Fenno’s decoration was awarded by direction of President Roosevelt ”or extraordinary heroism.”
MacArthur a ‘rebel’ on Army tradition
New United Nations Commander in Southwest Pacific pranced all over dignity of old-line officers as a ‘soldier’s soldier’
By Frank I. Weller
Editor’s note:
How Douglas MacArthur defied Army tradition and still proved himself “a soldier’s soldier” is told by Frank I. Weller in the second of four Wide World articles on the new Supreme Commander of the United Nations forces in the Southwest Pacific.
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The Pittsburgh Press (March 19, 1942)
Rambling Reporter
By Ernie Pyle
LOS ANGELES – Pershing Square in Los Angeles is one of the funniest places I’ve ever seen.
It is a nice block-square park in the center of downtown Los Angeles. And for some reason it has grown into a place where people congregate and argue in public. It is the Hyde Park of America, except that it’s much better than London’s Hyde Park.
In Pershing Square people don’t get up on soapboxes and make wild speeches. It’s more personal than that. They stand in little knots and argue man to man.
I don’t know how each individual argument gets started, but I suppose a potential arguer simply walks along, sees some other guy who looks like an arguer, walks up to him and says, “Do you think all inventions are accidents?”
The guy says yes, or possibly no, and they’re off. Rapidly a little crowd gathers around. Pretty soon an onlooker will shove in his two cents’ worth. And the argument in that one group will flow back and forth among various contestants for hours.
If you walk through Pershing Square you’ll find the place dotted these little belligerent groups. It’s a circus. I’ve listened to dozens of them, and as far as I can figure out, nobody knows what he’s talking about. In no other place in the world will you hear so many four-dollar words so thoroughly misused as in Pershing Square.
For instance, the other day one group, of which I was a member, was arguing on the age of the Chinese people. One well-dressed college fellow said the Chinese were thousands of years old before the Bible was written.
They never discuss the war
Whereupon a middle-aged man, an Englishman with a broad provincial accent, shook his fist and yelled, “Naow, sir! The Chinese frustrated that lie. If you don’t believe it go to the library and read the historicals.”
The thing that has amazed me most about the Pershing Square thinkers is that the war hasn’t changed their arguments at all. One afternoon I stopped past a dozen different groups. Not a one was discussing the war. They were still arguing the same old subjects they’ve been screaming at each other about for years – Socialism and God.
People tell me that the attitude of the public toward Filipinos has changed radically. Heretofore Filipinos in Southern California have been treated worse than Negroes. But now they’re being treated with respect.
I have a very dear friend here who is a Filipino. He is a steward on a crack Southern Pacific train between here and San Francisco. So I asked him about this change.
He says it is true. The public is bending over backward to be nice to Filipinos. It’s easy now for a Filipino to get a job. And he says the travelers whom he serves are practically gushy. They give him long speeches of praise as though he personally were back from Bataan after wiping out a few hundred Japs. So goes the world.
If I ever get in the Army, it is my ambition to receive a directive to proceed to an unannounced destination and set up a military installation.
Jap girls become Eleanors
A friend of mine who teaches in a grade school and has a lot of Japanese pupils tells of a funny incident.
Previously all her students had thoroughly unpronounceable Japanese names. But the morning after Pearl Harbor all the little Japanese girls showed up with American first names, such as Mary, Carol and Virginia. But the most popular name of all, that morning after Pearl Harbor, was Eleanor.
You know that story about the tramp hitchhiker predicting the war would be over in July. Well, he is apparently a ubiquitous tramp. He is everywhere.
Letters have rolled in from every corner of the country, saying the same tramp with the same name had been through there. Sometimes it was two gypsies instead, but otherwise the story was always the same. The earliest report of it seems to have been hard about three months ago.
A friend has suggested that I try to trace the yarn down to its beginning, but I imagine the entire FBI could never run down its source. Many people say the story circulated during the last war, both here and in Europe.
Most letter-writers seem to feel that it’s a form of fifth-column propaganda, planted by the enemy to lessen our war efforts. I’m so dumb it never occurred to me there was anything insidious as about it. But I guess no harm was done in repeating it. Everybody in America apparently had heard it before I did anyway.
Around Laguna Beach there is a movement to organize deer hunters into a band of guerrillas to fight the Japanese when and if they try to invade California.
The story was published in the papers, and mail has been coming in from all over Southern California. One enthusiastic hunter wrote, “I’m not a crack shot, but I always get the meat.” Apparently he just slips up and strangles his deer – and his Japs.
Reading Eagle (March 20, 1942)
MacArthur maps push on Japan; also planning to help Philippines
Gen. Stilwell joins in drive FDR ordered
Allies to carry war to Tokyo, new Burma chief says; foe hits New Guinea
By the United Press
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U.S. reports Jap cruiser, harbor hit
Direct blow scored on big Nipponese warship, Washington says
Attack Wednesday
War Office discloses 15 officers and men escorted MacArthur
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Labor dearth in war work seen by FDR
Envisions possibility of some shortages in men by next fall
Allocation waits
Plans not ready for mobilization program, President says
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Pleas for more ships voiced in Congress
Accelerated war production program starting to tax domestic and foreign transportation facilities, U.S. legislators report
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Roosevelt to register for draft on April 27
Washington, March 20 (AP) –
President Roosevelt is going to register, along with other Americans 45-64 years old, inclusive, on April 27.
Even though he is commander-in-chief of the armed forces and technically not required to register, he told a press conference he intended to do so anyway. At 60, he is well within the age limits.
U.S. ‘ugly duckling’ defies Nazi subs
Freighter braves bombers also to land cargo
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The Pittsburgh Press (March 20, 1942)
Rambling Reporter
By Ernie Pyle
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – One day Fred Othman got an indignant letter from some female newspaper reader in the East, giving him the dickens for something he had written about the movies.
She closed by saying scornfully, “Anyone can tell from your writing that you are fat, red-headed, and completely without sex appeal.” Othman laughs about the woman’s anger, and then says gravely, “But isn’t it strange how she hit the nail on the head?”
So that’s Fred Othman – fat, red-headed and without sex appeal – and one of the happiest men I’ve run onto in years. He is Hollywood correspondent for the United Press. He writes a daily feature story – not a gossip column – about the movies.
His column appears occasionally in some 1300 papers, and regularly in about 150. He has been doing it for five years. And it is no secret that around the studios he is the most respected writer in Hollywood. His integrity is supreme.
In return, he has a very high regard for motion picture people. Carole Lombard was the best friend he had, and he can hardly bear to speak of her now. He has no sneers for Hollywood. Directors are his special heroes. Fred tells a story to explain why.
For a long time he went around, like other people, thinking directors were over-touted, and kept their jobs mainly by wearing polo shirts and yelling wise-cracks.
Then one day, as material for his daily story, it was arranged that Fred should direct a picture himself for one afternoon.
He read the script until he knew it by heart. On the first scene he called the actors to their places, gave a few instructions, got everything all ready to fire, and then a cameraman had to come over and speak as follows: “Mr. Othman, where do you want me to put the camera?”
That’s a civil question. It’s plain and to the point. It’s one of the simplest of the fundamentals. And yet Mr. Othman thought and thought, and realized that actually he hadn’t the remotest idea where to put the camera. From that day to this, you better not belittle directors in his presence.
Regular reporter’s path
Fred Othman came out of St. Louis, and followed the regular reporter’s path upward through the newspaper and press association business. I knew him years ago in Washington.
Five years ago, the United Press sent him to Hollywood, because they needed a regular man out here and Fred had displayed a pretty gay touch on his typewriter in Washington. In these five years a rather remarkable companionship has grown up between Fred Othman and Hollywood. Each has taken the other over.
Othman has fallen so hard for California that he practically buttonholes people on the street to tell them about it. He is shameless in his enthusiasm. He can’t tolerate the thought of ever leaving California. He is a happy man.
Othman’s house is the wonder of all visiting firemen, and he displays it with almost childish delight. I’ve heard about it for years, now finally I’ve seen it.
The thing sits on a hilltop, just a little way from Hollywood Boulevard. Nine families live up there, including the mayor of Los Angeles. And the only way they can get up to the hilltop is by elevator!
Yessir, the hillsides are sheer. The elevator is in a concrete shaft, like a square silo, which sticks up in the air alongside the cliff that forms one side of the hill.
Those nine families up there own and operate the elevator. They pay $3 a month each. They call it “The Hightower Elevator Co.,” and each year at income tax time they have to hire a lawyer to go down and explain to Uncle Sam that they don’t manufacture elevators for profit.
Famous designer
Othman’s house was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the noted architect. I don’t know what happened, but it became unoccupied, and ran down terribly. Tramps were sleeping on the lower floor. That’s how the Othmans picked it up for a song.
It’s a beauty now. Fred, who considers himself quite a painter (house, not canvas), did most of the redecorating. Mrs. Othman, who is Hilda, did the rest.
The place is practically all windows. And the sun is so bright it takes the dye right out of their furnishings. So they have to have white curtains and rugs. Deep, woolly white rugs. Maybe you think that doesn’t look luxurious.
Furthermore, they have gold-plated doorknobs. Fred is so proud of those he can hardly contain himself. The silly part of it was that they cost almost nothing – a little discovery I am glad to hear about. Maybe I can get gold tires when the rubber runs out.
Fred says all his life he has wanted a fountain. So he made one. You turn a valve, and a funny little stream, about the size of a pencil lead, comes squirting out and falls into the goldfish pond. Fred sits and listens to it tinkle all Sunday afternoon.
Yes, the Othmans live in an almost magazine-like Hollywood luxury and because of Hilda’s uncanny nose for business opportunities, it costs them no more than living in an ordinary suburb. They live a banquet life on the price of a hamburger.
The house, however, does have one grave fault. It’s so damn nice Fred can’t write in it! So every afternoon, after doing the studios, he has to drive clear to downtown Los Angeles, among the ticker machines and the frenzy of the UP office, and there he writes his daily dissertation about the movies.
Reading Eagle (March 21, 1942)
MACARTHUR ASKS FOR MEN, MACHINES
Second enemy cruiser sunk; third is hit
Japanese fleet reported approaching southwest coast of Australia
By the United Press
Gen. Douglas MacArthur told cheering Australians today that more men and machines were urgently needed for the battle raging along the southwestern Pacific front.
As if echoing the words of the Allied supreme commander as he was welcomed to Melbourne, the battle on the island approaches to Australia developed as follows:
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American and Australian bombing attacks sank or damaged a second and a third enemy cruiser off New Britain Island and battered the Japanese-held base of Saumliki on Yamenda Island, 225 miles north of Australia. (This boosted the toll of enemy ships in the island sector to 25 or 26, including at least 14 warships.)
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New Japanese raids were made on Port Moresby, where the enemy met heavy Allied anti-aircraft fire, and on Broome and Derby, in northwest Australia.
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Persistent but unconfirmed Axis reports circulated that Japanese fleets were approaching Australia, possibly aiming for Perth on the southwest coast.
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Axis sources reported that the Japanese had cut across New Guinea to the south coast near Papua Gulf, an advance of 110 miles through the jungle area where aborigines were reported engaged in inter-tribal warfare because of withdrawal of Australian administrators.
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An Axis source also said Japanese warships were pressing deeper into the Solomon Island group, northeast of Australia, in an apparent effort to strike at the Fiji Islands and the Allied supply route from America.
All of these developments indicated the Japanese were massing forces north of Australia and apparently attempting to speed up their invasion operations in an effort to strike before MacArthur can muster greater strength in the Southwest Pacific.
MacArthur, wearing an old bush jacket without stars on his shoulders, in contrast to the resplendent gold-braided uniforms of officials who welcomed him to Melbourne, appeared to be confident and in excellent health.
“I shall keep the soldier’s faith,” he said. But he warned that “success requires careful preparation… sufficient troops and sufficient material to meet the unknown strength of the potential enemy. No general can make something from nothing.”
On other world fronts, the tempo of fighting was also increasing:
BURMA: Chinese cavalry went into action against Japanese tanks, aiding in repulsing a Japanese force and inflicting “some hundreds” of casualties on the enemy. But the Japanese apparently were pushing closer to the railroad town to Toungoo, on the road from Rangoon to Mandalay. Some Axis reports claimed Toungoo had been occupied.
American airplanes, including fortresses, were taking a prominent part in the fighting north of Australia, where Axis reports indicated thrusts against Port Moresby were likely soon.
On New Guinea Island, indirect Axis reports said that the Japanese were extending their land invasion and one German broadcast claimed they had crossed the 110-mile-wide island arm to the Gulf of Papua, on the south coast, west of Port Moresby.
Early attack indicated
If this Axis report is confirmed – it had not yet been even indicated in dispatches from Australia – it might mean an early land and sea attack on Port Moresby, which the Japanese want to use for an invasion base against the north Australian coast.
In this connection, Axis broadcasts again were reporting Japanese naval operations alleged directed toward the Australian coast and toward the Solomon and Fiji Islands which dominate the supply line from America to Australia.
The Vichy radio claimed that Japanese warships were “within one days” of the west Australian coast, while Rome said that Japanese fleet operations were in progress 120 miles off San Christobal, in the Solomons. Neither of these reports were confirmed.
Tribal war starts
Meanwhile, dispatches from Port Moresby said that head hunters and cannibals in northern New Guinea had started a fierce new tribal war as a result of withdrawal of Australian authorities due to the Japanese invasion. The fighting was reported in Sepik River area, about 275 miles west of the Japanese landing at Huon Gulf.
So far as could be learned the native outbreaks were not directed against either the Australians or the Japanese, but merely were a result of the Japanese invasion.
The arrival of MacArthur at Melbourne for conferences with Prime Minister John Curtin and other high officials was cheered by crowds of Australians who have been encouraged by the American military hero’s aggressive attitude.
MacArthur issued a statement expressing confidence in victory but warning that more and more men and materials are needed quickly to meet the powerful Japanese forces poised north of Australia.
“I have great confidence in ultimate success,” he said. “But success in modern warfare requires more than courage – it requires careful preparation.”
Thus the new Allied supreme commander added his words to warnings that the people of the United Nations must not expect a miracle that will suddenly turn the tide of the war.
Freighter sunk
In the Indian Ocean, a Japanese submarine was reported to have sunk a Norwegian freighter off Christmas Island and then was destroyed by coastal batteries on the island, according to an Australian broadcast.
Axis broadcasts reported that the Japanese had attacked 6,000 Allied troops in the Toungoo area, 150 miles north of Rangoon, where Tokyo said 300 defense troops were killed. Fighting also was reported at a point 50 miles northwest of Rangoon.
There were Axis reports that Toungoo had been entered by Japanese troops but these were not confirmed and the British said only that the enemy was preparing for a big push.
U.S. vessel sunk by sub
Large merchant ship is hit off Atlantic coast; two of crew missing
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) – Lightning flashes that illuminated the sea for miles helped an Axis undersea raider to torpedo and sink a large American merchant ship off the Atlantic coast early Wednesday, members of the crew related on their arrival at Norfolk. The Navy announced the sinking today.
Twenty-six survivors of the 41-man crew were picked up by a rescue ship after five hours in a lifeboat and were landed at Norfolk. Thirteen others were rescued by another vessel and then ashore at Morehead City, N.C. Two crewmen were listed as missing. Their identity was not immediately established.
Wiper describes storm
Expressing belief that an electrical storm aided the submarine in finding the ship, James Miller, wiper, of Pelly, Texas, told newsmen, “There were great bright flashes of lightning and you could see for miles. I think the sub would have missed us if it hadn’t had this light to aim by.”
There were four lifeboats on the ship, but one was blown to bits by the blast of one of two torpedoes that bored into the portside. Another could not be launched because it was on the windward side of the ship. Chief Engineer Joseph F. Lafo of West Haven, Conn., said the 26 men in his boat were “terribly crowded and so many of the men were sick it was hard to keep the boats bow into the wind.”
Sank in 40 minutes
Able-bodied Seaman James Stafford of Seymour, Texas, said the ship went down about 40 minutes after the second torpedo struck. “We had plenty of time but we worked in a hurry because we thought the sub would probably send another torpedo into us. We also didn’t know but what the ship would burst into flames any minute. She didn’t burn and that’s all that saved us.”
Spring’s entrance isn’t wow! We all knew she was coming!
Spring – supposedly sprightly Spring, with a capital S – stole in a not-so-scintillating style today.
As if that alliteration were not enough, the weather bureau predicted there would be the hissing sound of rain tonight, accompanied by some rise in temperature.
The season of new hats and new topcoats – and new license plates – arrived officially at 2:11 a.m., when to earthbound observers who were awake and in the right places, the sun appeared directly over the equator. Summer starts at 9:17 p.m. on June 21, when the sun appears to stop its northward trip.
Most nonchalant about the pretty lady’s arrival were the robins, which have been skipping around Reading and environs for some time.
Small boys, who sense these things better than anyone else, started games of marbles and mumblety-peg even before the robins were sighted.
Down in Newark, N.J., the Associated Press reported, approximately 8,000 girl office workers at the Prudential Insurance Company were permitted to roll their stockings below the knees or even go stockingless, for the first time in many years.
The company, taking note of the wartime clothing emergency, lifted its requirement that full-length stockings be worn.
The girls said the object of the requirement had been to prevent distraction of the male employees.
Ah, Spring, ah, chool – Spring!
Five killed as bomber crashes in Memphis
Memphis, Tenn., March 21 (AP) –
At least five persons were killed when a two-motored Army bomber crashed and burned near the Municipal Airport today.
The dead, brought to a Memphis funeral home, were not immediately identified.
Two others were reported pulled from the flaming wreckage, badly burned.
The plane took off from the airport and crashed in the underbrush a quarter-mile from the airport.